Bulletin: Tammy Marquardt: Canadian Press recalls Charles Smith case in "Today in history." (February 10, 2012);

STORY: The Canadian Press's compilation of "Today in History" for February 10, 2102.

GIST: (On the 2011 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal to quash the second-degree murder conviction of Tammy Marquardt, saying the Oshawa mother had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice.)

" Marquardt, 38, spent 14 years in prison after she was convicted in 1995 of killing her toddler based in part on evidence from disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith. The appeal court ordered a new trial but the Crown withdrew the charge on June 7th."

The entire compilation can be found at:

http://www.mysask.com/portal/site/main/template.MAXIMIZE/?javax.portlet.tpst=26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_viewID=story&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_topic_display_name=Today%20in%20History&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_topic_name=History&javax.portlet.prp_26487bb925e1b653d484bd1088215ae8_news_item_id_key=16994831&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Stephanie Spurgeon: Florida; Grandmother, mother testify at murder trial. Baby shaking alleged.

STORY: Grandmother, mother testify about death of 1-year-old in Palm Harbor Murder Case, by reporter Curtis Krueger, published in the Tampa Bay News on Thursday February 9, 2012.

GIST: "Assistant State Attorney Brian Daniels said, and a doctor testified, that Maria was in good health at her one-year checkup just days before she was brought to the day care, but unresponsive when picked up from the home. Defense attorney Ron Kurpiers said the case would involve "complicated, detailed, specific medical testimony" that would sometimes be challenging to follow. But he also said that among all the people who would testify in the case, no one "saw or heard or witnessed Stephanie Spurgeon harm Maria Harris. Not one." Although evaluations would later show that Maria suffered a subdural hematoma and retinal hemorrhaging, Kurpiers said doctors would testify that there are other possible explanations that are "completely unrelated to trauma." Kurpiers said prosecutors would be unable to prove "that Miss Spurgeon had any responsibility in causing what happened to that child."

THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/grandmother-mother-testify-about-death-of-1-year-old-in-palm-harbor-murder/1214478

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Ernie Lopez: (Texas): Case featured on PBS/Outfront/ProPublica shaken baby syndrome exposee. New trial ordered.

STORY: Texas court voids conviction in child death case by reporter A.C. Thompson published on ProPublica on January 25, 2012.

GIST: "The Lopez case highlights the growing international controversy about the reliability of the science used to prosecute cases of fatal child abuse and sexual assault. In Canada and the U.S. at least 23 people have been wrongly accused [3] of killing children based on questionable medical evidence, and California Gov. Jerry Brown is currently considering commuting the sentence [4] of a grandmother convicted of fatally shaking her 7-week-old grandson.

The Texas court didn’t rule on Lopez’s culpability and did not set him free. Instead, the court concluded that [5] Lopez received ineffective legal representation during his trial because his lawyers failed to challenge the prosecution’s medical evidence."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.propublica.org/article/texas-court-voids-conviction-in-child-death-case

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Stephanie Spurgeon: Florida. Trial of former day care owner accused of shaking baby to death gets under way.

STORY: "Murder trial begins for former Palm Harbor day care owner accused of shaking baby to death," by reporter Curtis Krueger published in the Tampa bay Times on February 8, 2012.
GIST: "Spurgeon, 40, is A former Palm Harbor day care owner accused of killing a 1-year-old by shaking the girl to death. But no one witnessed the child's injuries, and the fundamental science behind so-called "shaken baby syndrome" has come under attack in recent years. Even the name has been dropped by many medical professionals in favor of other terms such as "abusive head trauma." This means the trial will likely become a battle of experts, with the prosecution's doctors blaming the death on Spurgeon and defense experts saying the child died from other causes."
The entire story can be found at:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/murder-trial-begins-for-former-palm-harbor-day-care-owner-accused-of/1214405

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Brief respite: (To allow me to fulfill a writing obligation); Back soon. Harold Levy; Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

Dear readers: A writing deadline has caught up to me! I should be able to begin posting again in about a week. In the meantime keep me up to date on  any cases or matters worthy of note at : hlevy15@gmail.com. Best wishes.

Harold Levy: Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

Chana Al-Alas and Rohan Way: "Shaken baby syndrome." Acquittals lead to call for Vitamin D infant death report.

 STORY:  "Call for Vitamin D infant death report," by reporter Andrew Hosken, published  on January 26, 2102, on BBC News, Radio Four.

GIST:  "Dr Irene Scheimberg and Dr Marta Cohen believe their findings merit further investigation and research. "I think there should be a commission that studies all these cases [which would] take into consideration the age of the children, the gender, the race and the way in which the way these families live - particularly when the children are still alive and living in foster care when they could be back with their families," said Dr Scheimberg, based at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. The findings in children from London and Yorkshire followed the discovery by Dr Scheimberg in 2009 of congenital rickets in a four-month-old baby whose parents had been accused of shaking him to death. Chana Al-Alas,19, and Rohan Wray, 22, were acquitted of murdering their son Jayden after the jury learned that his fractures, supposedly telltale signs of abuse, could have been caused by his severe rickets. Dr Scheimberg also discovered rickets in Jayden's mother. Michael Turner QC, who defended Miss Al-Alas, told the BBC that he was shocked by the lack of knowledge about vitamin D deficiency of some of the expert witnesses at the trial, held at the Old Bailey."

THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16726841

 PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Rohan Wray and Chana Al-Alas; "Shaken baby syndrome." Irish paper points out physicians' ignorance of Vitamin D deficiency causing Rickets.

STORY: "Quarter of Toddlers lack Vitamin D - study," published in the Irish Examiner on January 24, 2012."

GIST: "Last month a young couple walked free from court after being cleared of killing their four-month-old son after it was found he had been suffering from rickets. Rohan Wray and Chana Al-Alas of Islington, north London, fell under suspicion when baby Jayden died suddenly two years ago. But, following a six-week trial at the Old Bailey, charges of murder and causing or allowing his death were dropped. A quarter of all toddlers are lacking Vitamin D, according to research in the UK."
THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/world/quarter-of-toddlers-lack-vitamin-d--study-537076.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;